Principal's Report

Dear CPS Community,

As we head towards the end of the school year, we would like to extend our gratitude to

all our students, teachers and families for their support, engagement this year.

As always at the end of a school year, we have an opportunity to welcome new members to our team and say farewell to some of our current staff and community members.

Sadly, we will be saying goodbye to our School Council President Amanda Mizzi who will be moving on from Craigieburn. Our heartfelt thanks to Amanda for her ongoing support, diligence, honesty and open approach – I have appreciated and will miss our chats and connection to serving the CPS community.

Amanda has held the position of SC President for the past 4 -5 years and been part of the school for the past 11 years. Although her connection to the school stems back to when she herself was a student at Craigieburn Primary School. It has been a privilege to lead Craigieburn Primary School with her support and see the ongoing development of the school over the past 5 years. Amanda engaged in the first of our two school reviews since my appointment to CPS, with her guidance along with the SC team/Principal Class team the school has seen upgrades to the Library, Community Hub, refurbishment of classrooms, decommissioning of houses, new portable buildings, new inclusive playground and much more.

I am pleased our School Council continue to make improvements to our school and have overseen and completed many projects, reviews and audits. We are excited and looking forward to the year ahead. We are very proud of the improvements and know we still have much more to do. There will be a number of new positions open to be a member of CPS School Council in 2026 more information will be posted in Term 1.

In 2026 we welcome the following staff who will be joining the CPS team:

Emma Matthews (Classroom teacher) & Debroah-Ann (Deb) Wicks (Acting Business Manager)

We say farewell to the following staff who are moving onwards:

Farewell to Sam Pfieffer, Dinusha Ranawaka Pathiranage (family leave), Elisabeth Skapetis (family leave), Alexander Forster (International Teacher), Marlisa Yu, Michael Putinja, Richard Illsley, Corrine Jacob (left at end of Term3), Scott Talbot (Acting Assistant Principal, Shu Yang Wang & Kassie Herny who are leaving CPS to pursue other opportunities.

We thank these staff members for their contribution to CPS and wish them all the very best in their future endeavours.

A list of 2026 teachers and classes is provided in this newsletter.

Our 2026 student leaders were announced today at our school assembly. A list of the successful representatives is provided in this newsletter.

Our current student leaders will engage in a Student Leader Handover during week 11 (last week of school).

current school leaders spend allocated time with the new school captains discussing key aspects of their role organised with Leading Teacher
discuss year ahead and set goals
farewell current leaders (School Assembly)

We look forward to the weeks ahead for our current and future student leaders to be working together.

As part of our student’s excellence program, we will invite our student leaders to attend the Youth Leadership Academy Australia Conference again in 2026 (subsidised by CPS). This conference is held annually at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Dream and Lead is a one-day, highly engaging event designed to support primary school students in discovering their leadership potential, whilst providing them with strong foundations to succeed. Throughout the day, students will participate in purposeful activities developing their problem-solving skills and increasing confidence and independence. Facilitated by internationally trained young leaders, students will recognise the impact they can create as a young person.

School Concert

Grades will each learn a song to sing and perform at for our Christmas Concert Wednesday 17th December. We will invite parents and carers to attend our whole school event starting at 1.30pm. In addition we have our Community Hub open on the same day for parents to visit and engage in activities to promote school connections.

Friday – Students will perform a Graduation dance at our last assembly held in our school gym. Where our teachers and students F- 5 will cheer and clap and farewell our young Graduates for the last time.

While leaving primary school may cause mixed emotions in some students, we are confident that over the seven years (or in some cases less) at Craigieburn Primary School, students have developed independence, resilience, and an enthusiasm for learning which will hold them in good stead to transition into secondary school.

Parent and carers attending our assembly will need to enter via the office. Gates will open from 1.15pm in readiness for a 1.30pm end of day finish.

Transition & Graduation

Our Year 6 had their state-wide transition day today Tuesday 9th December. To ensure a successful transition to Secondary College from some of our more anxious and additional needs students we have:

Corresponded with Secondary Year Level co-ordinators, discussing students who may need additional transition days
Arranged for ES staff to create social stories for selected students
Conducted Student Support Group meetings with Secondary School Well-being Co-ordinators

Our Year 6 Graduation Ceremony was a spectacular event and night of fun filled celebrations. The students worked tirelessly to rehearse dance moves, create artworks, draft and write heartfelt letters to the people who are most important to them. Congratulations to all the award recipients and finally a BIG thank you to the Year 6 team and staff who were working behind the scenes for a smooth and seamless event.

To all the graduates, you have already shown resilience, adaptability, and heart throughout your primary years. You have faced change, uncertainty, and new expectations—and you succeeded.

Now, as you step confidently into secondary school, trust in your strengths, embrace the opportunities, and stay open to the person you are becoming.

We are incredibly proud of each and every one of you. Walk into Year 7 with courage, curiosity, and excitement for what lies ahead.

Congratulations and all the very best to our 2025 Year 6 students.

Foundation Transition

Last Thursday was our final Foundation Transition Day. Our Foundation teachers for 2026 have been working with our future students for the last transition session. Parents have been enjoying a coffee and chat in the staffroom during transition sessions with presentations each session. It has been wonderful chatting to our new and current parents during this time. We are pleased to see our Foundation students happy and ready for their school year ahead, demonstrating wonderful confidence and readiness for school.

2026 School Return Date

Our students in Foundation to Year 6 will commence school on Thursday 30th January 2026.

We would like to wish everyone a relaxing, safe, and enjoyable summer holiday. We look forward to welcoming everyone back for the 2026 school year.

Once again, I send my thanks to everyone for their efforts throughout yet another extraordinary year!

Merry Christmas!